The attack on author Avijit Roy and his wife was carried out by professional machete-wielding killers in a premeditated manner, investigators have said, adding that initial leads suggest that fundamentalist militants were behind the killing.
“Two persons took part in the killing mission that lasted around two minutes. From the spot [of the killing], we have collected two machetes and a handbag; but both of the machetes’ handles were wrapped in paper, so it was not possible to get any fingerprint from it,” Shirjaul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Quoting witnesses, the OC said the two assailants were aged between 30 and 35 years; one of them was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, and the other was wearing a grey coat.
“Soon after the incident, they just disappeared. The murder would not have been possible without backup support, and we are suspecting that the killers might have had other associates nearby as they had carried out the killing in a preplanned way,” Shirajul said.
Based on previous incidents and analysing the method of the attack, the police are now investigating militant links to the killing, the OC added.
Avijit, 45, was hacked to death and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonna, 35, was seriously injured in an attack by unidentified assailants near the TSC roundabout on Thursday night.
Bonna is currently being treated at the capital’s Square Hospital. She is reportedly in a stable, but critical condition.
Meanwhile, as per Avijit’s wishes, his body will now be handed over to the Dhaka Medical College for medical research, said the slain author’s cousin Bishnu Roy.
Family sources said Avijit – a naturalised US citizen who lived in the US state of Georgia – came to Bangladesh with his wife on February 15 after two new books by him were published at the Ekushey Book Fair.
Since arriving in Dhaka, the author, who rose to prominence with his Bangla-language blog site Mukto-mona, had been visiting the book fair every day – reportedly staying there until the end of business hours.
During this period, the perpetrators might have monitored the movement of Avijit to plan the attack, Shahbagh OC Shirajul said. An inquest report has also found that the main target of the culprits was to murder Avijit, he added.
Militant group claims responsibility
Only hours after the death of the author and blogger, the responsibility of the crime was claimed by a Twitter account reportedly belonging to “Ansar Bangla 7” – a group believed to be an Islamist outfit.
“Allahu Akbar..A great success today here in #Bangladesh. Target is Down -:- here in #Dhaka,” read the tweet by the group.
“Anti-Islamic blogger US-Bengali citizen Avijit Roy is assassinated in capital Dhaka due to his crime against #Islam,” another tweet also followed soon after.
Acknowledging the tweet, Ramna division’s Assistant Commissioner of Police SM Shibli Noman told the Dhaka Tribune that investigators were considering militant involvement as the prime lead, as the method of attack was almost similar to the previous attacks on another blogger – Ahmed Rajib Haider – and author Prof Humayun Azad.
Also following the killing, different posts in Facebook pointed out that a cyber-bully named Farabi Shafiur Rahman had previously posted to the social networking site threatening to kill Avijit Roy.
“Avijit Roy lives in America. So it is not possible to kill him now. He will be killed as soon as he returns home,” Farabi wrote in a Facebook status posted on February 9, 2014.
In 2014, an online bookstore also had to stop selling Avijit’s books after Farabi issued death threats to the website’s owner for selling publications by the blogger.
Autopsy findings
The autopsy of Avijit Roy was carried out at the Dhaka Medical College yesterday, with the findings suggesting that the murder was committed by trained killers.
After the autopsy, Dr Sohel Mahmud, an associate professor of the DMC Forensic Department, told the Dhaka Tribune that there were three deep wounds on the back-right side of Avijit’s skull, indicating that he was struck with some sharp weapons like a machete.
“The distance between one injury spot to the other is half an inch, and all of the injury marks are parallel. The gashes were so deep that they directly hit the victim’s brain after breaking the skull,” said Dr Sohel.
These three blows to the head were the injuries that eventually caused the death of Avijit, he added.
The marks suggested that the attack was done by expert hands, as all the hits were three-inch deep, while the attackers also knew about the sensitive spots of the human body.
Meanwhile, before the autopsy, an inquest report was prepared by Shahbagh Sub-Inspector Subroto Goldar, who is also the officer investigating Avijit’s murder. He told the Dhaka Tribune that there were six wounds on Avijit’s body and all of the hits were made in sensitive points.
Case filed
Avijit’s father Ajay Kumar Roy, a former professor of physics at Dhaka University, filed a case with Shahbagh police station yesterday, accusing one or more than one unidentified person.
Although Ajay Roy did not mention any suspect in the First Information Report, soon after filing the case he told the Dhaka Tribune: “A fundamentalist militant group is responsible for my son’s death and Jamaat-e-Islami had instigated it [the attack].”
He also expressed hopes that the government would take necessary measures to ensure exemplary punishment for the criminals.
Along with the Shahbagh police, the case is also being investigated by the Detective Branch of police.
In this regard, DB Deputy Commissioner Krishnapado Roy said they have started investigating, even though they were yet to get an official order in this regard.
“Every incident is different and every incident has its own pattern. We are working, but it is tough to give any deadline [to solve the case]. But our maximum effort will be to bring out the masterminds of the killing,” he added.